Vehicle security systems are widely used to deter vehicle theft, prevent theft of valuables from a vehicle, deter vandalism, and to protect vehicle owners and occupants. A typical automobile security system, for example, includes a central processor or controller connected to a plurality of vehicle sensors. The sensors, for example, may detect opening of the trunk, hood, doors, windows, and also movement of the vehicle or within the vehicle. Ultrasonic and microwave motion detectors, vibration sensors, sound discriminators, differential pressure sensors, and switches may be used as sensors. In addition, radar sensors may be used to monitor the area proximate the vehicle. The controller typically operates to give an alarm indication in the event of triggering of a vehicle sensor. The alarm indication may typically be a flashing of the lights and/or the sounding of the vehicle horn or a siren. In addition, the vehicle fuel supply and/or ignition power may be selectively disabled based upon an alarm condition.
A typical security system also includes a receiver associated with the controller that cooperates with one or more remote transmitters typically carried by the user as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,242 to Sassover et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,215 to Drori. The remote transmitter may be used to arm and disarm the vehicle security system or provide other remote control features from a predetermined range away from the vehicle. Also related to remote control of a vehicle function U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,966 to Lambropoulous et al. discloses a remote keyless entry system for a vehicle. The keyless entry system permits the user to remotely open the vehicle doors or open the vehicle trunk using a small handheld transmitter.
In addition to vehicle security and remote keyless entry functions, another type of desirable vehicle remote control function is remotely starting the vehicle engine when the owner is away from the vehicle. Such remote starting can be used in cold climates to warm the engine and/or run the passenger compartment heater, to thereby prevent freezing or for the user's comfort. Conversely, remote engine starting can enable the air conditioning to run to cool the vehicle's interior before the vehicle user enters the vehicle.
Unfortunately, many older vehicle security systems needed to be directly connected by wires to individual vehicle devices, such as the vehicle horn or door switches of the vehicle. In other words, older conventional vehicle security systems were hard-wired to various vehicle components, typically by splicing into vehicle wiring harnesses or via interposing T-harnesses and connectors. More recently, vehicle manufacturers have moved to decrease the wiring complexity by using one or more data buses extending throughout the vehicle and interconnecting various vehicle devices. Moreover, the assignee of the present invention has made a number of significant developments in the vehicle data bus area, particularly as may be helpful to the adaptation of aftermarket vehicle remote control systems to vehicles including a data bus. For example, some of these innovations are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,756,885 and 6,346,876, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Indeed, one of the significant advances disclosed in the Flick patents is the concept of a multi-vehicle compatible controller that may be provided by using a conventional remote control device coupled to the data bus by a data bus adaptor device. The data bus adaptor device is able to translate the codes or language generated by the vehicle devices on the data bus into a format that may be read by the remote control device, and/or is able to translate command information or codes from the remote control device into data bus codes to control the vehicle devices.
Despite the advances provided by the migration of manufacturers to vehicle data bus technology, and the significant advances provided by the Flick patents for multi-vehicle compatibility with the data bus, there are still other compatibility shortcomings that may need further efforts. In particular, manufacturers of aftermarket security and remote start systems may be using proprietary output formats, such as in the form of coded serial outputs that will interface with their own data bus modules, but not with the data bus modules of other manufacturers.
One particular approach which helps address such compatibility shortcomings is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 8,362,886, also to Flick, which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. This patent is directed to a remote control system for a vehicle of a type including a data communications bus extending throughout the vehicle and connecting a plurality of vehicle devices within the vehicle may include a remote transmitter and a vehicle remote function controller being responsive to the remote transmitter. The vehicle remote function controller may include a controller data link interface. The remote control system may include a multi-controller data bus adaptor for adapting the vehicle remote function controller to communicate via the data communications bus and may include an adaptor data link interface coupled to the controller data link interface. The multi-controller data bus adaptor may be operable with a given set of controller codes for the vehicle remote controller from among a plurality of different sets of controller codes for a plurality of different vehicle function controllers.
Despite the existence of such configurations, further developments may be desirable for dealing with compatibility issues as between different components to be connected to a vehicle data bus which use different proprietary communication formats.